R.I.P. George Jones, Country Music Superstar

George Jones, the country music superstar with a career that lasted over a half-century, died today in a hospital in Nashville, Tennessee at age 81. He had been hospitalized on April 18 due to a fever and irregular blood pressure, according to a press release.

Jones, who was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1992, was known for his baritone voice and embodiment of the hard-living country star lifestyle. He conveyed these elements in a very long list of hit singles, among them "Why Baby Why", "She Still Thinks I Care", "Tender Years", "He Stopped Loving Her Today", and "The Grand Tour". He had No. 1 hits in five separate decades, starting with "White Lightning" in 1959. According to a press release, Jones had "more than 160 charting singles, more than any other artist in any format in the history of popular music."

Jones was married to (and later divorced from) the late, beloved country singer Tammy Wynette, with whom he recorded a number of hit songs, including "Golden Ring", "Near You", and "We're Gonna Hold On".

"The Possum", as Jones was nicknamed, was given the Kennedy Center Honor for lifetime achievement in 2008. Jones had planned to end his current farewell tour with a star-studded show in Nashville on November 22, 2013.